Carter Hayes left his house via his rear deck and headed next door. Mac's home stood between Carter's and his brother Lincoln's and, ever since Mac had moved in, had acted as the in-between for the three bachelors. Evening free time was usually spent hanging out with whomever was free.
Lincoln had a pool in his backyard that they all used, and Mac had made his recently purchased home his by hiring a professional landscaper to come and create a visual haven that included an outdoor patio with a big-screen and built-in kitchen, as well as a beautiful garden that extended down to the canal. Both men left Carter thinking he needed to up his game since his yard only held an assortment of Piper's toys.
"Hey. How was Piper's first week?" Mac asked.
Carter jogged up the stone steps to Mac's raised patio. "Good. She's getting back to her usual self."
"Did she get over her upset?"
He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. I keep reminding her that they'll be home to visit soon and will hang out with her on video chat sometimes until then. She isn't happy but she's adjusting."
Lincoln's twins had left for college a week ago and were settling in, and Piper hated that her cousins hadn't been around for her first day of pre-K. Now that she was going to school like the "big kids," she wanted them to be around to acknowledge the fact.
"Where's she now?"
"Breanne recommended another friend of hers to babysit," he said, referring to his niece. "They're inside watching a movie."
"Another babysitter?"
Carter avoided eye contact. "Yeah. The, uh, last one didn't work out."
"What happened?"
"Don't ask."
Mac started chuckling and Carter glared at his friend. "It's not funny."
"Ah, but it is. Little Miss Hottie came on to you, didn't she? I saw her getting out of her convertible in her cheerleading uniform," he said with a shake of his head. "Jailbait in sneakers."
Carter swiped a hand over his face and rubbed hard. "That girl had just turned sixteen. If Piper ever—" He broke off, unsure of what he'd do other than lock his daughter up in her bedroom and not let her out until she was forty.
Some men would've accepted the babysitter's offer of letting him be her "fabulous first" without a care for the consequences. But having a daughter of his own and not wanting to go to prison for statutory rape, Carter had fired the girl on the spot. Thankfully he had a nanny cam in the main room of the house as well as in Piper's, so when the girl had gotten mouthy over her dismissal, he'd pointed out that he had proof nothing happened.
"It's that bad-boy look," Mac stated with a grin. "The muscles, Harley, and tats? You're the triple crown."
"Bite me. And give me one of those," he said, wagging his fingers for a bottle of water. He'd rather have a beer but these days it paid to have a clear head. Especially when teenage girls were in his house. Thankfully this one seemed a little more grounded, but only time would tell. And he still had to find yet another one to pick up the slack since girls that age tended to be busy and notoriously unreliable.
The thought brought on others he'd been pondering a lot lately. His construction business was doing well. He had a good crew working for him. Maybe instead of finding a babysitter, he should try promoting someone to foreman and take a step back from things? Work after-school hours from home the way Mac had started doing after his first wife's death? "Where's Linc?"
"His text said he had some things to do but he'd be over soon."
"Man, he's been working crazy hours trying to get a handle on things before he and Amelia get married," Carter said.
The thought of his brother's upcoming nuptials made Carter wonder if their nightly "guy" ritual would continue after Lincoln tied the knot or if their hang-out sessions would dwindle down to the two remaining bachelors. Time would tell. Until then… "Haven't seen Marsali around. How's she doing?"
Carter asked the question to get a rise out of Mac, and sure enough, the man drew back and glared at Carter with all the animosity of a friend with a hot sister.
"Watch yourself," Mac said, pointing a finger at Carter.
"Just asking."
"Don't."
"Gentlemen," Lincoln said. "What are we arguing about tonight?"
Lincoln had managed to leave his house and join them without either of them noticing. "Marsali."
"Carter's underage babysitter and how he fired her."
Carter grimaced and shook his head at his older brother. The last thing he needed was Lincoln reverting to old times when he’d had reason to lecture as Carter's legal guardian, but at thirty-three, he was a grown man and Lincoln had lost the right.
"Another one?" Lincoln asked.
"Had to be done. And I already hired another. Piper's checking her out tonight," Carter said, shooting a death glare at a smirking Mac.
"Good. But lay off Marsali. She isn't your type," Lincoln added.
"Definitely not," Mac said.
"How do you figure that? She's beautiful, smart, has her own business." Carter waited for the fallout.
"No," Lincoln and Mac said in unison.
"Why not? She's age appropriate," he said, just to egg them on. He really wasn't interested in Marsali, though his thoughts about her hotness were totally accurate. She was just a little too… sweet for him, though. And there was the fact she was his buddy's little sis. Even he knew not to cross that bridge. Do that, and if things go south, you lose the relationship and the friend. "You always say I look in the wrong places, which is why I hook up with the wrong women. Maybe Marsali and I—"
"Do you want me to kill you?" Mac demanded. "Keep talking."
Carter settled himself more comfortably in his seat so he could prop his foot on the coffee table. "Guys, Piper needs a mama. How many times have you said I don't choose the best women?"
"Barflies would seldom be the right choice," Lincoln said. "And that's usually where you look."
"Which is why Marsali—"
"Where's Amelia?" Mac asked, ending the conversation.
"She is at a wedding for an associate," Lincoln said. "She wanted me to go but I had a ton of work to get done. But Marsali recommended a wedding planner, and the woman has proven hard to get in touch with, so they're going to track her down there."
"Eliza?" Mac asked, his eyebrows drawn down in a frown.
"Yeah, that's her," Lincoln said. "She planned the wedding taking place tonight."
"Wedding planner, huh? No justice of the peace?" Carter asked, knowing his brother wasn't the kind of guy who liked a big fuss.
"It might be my second but it's Amelia's first," Lincoln said with a shrug. "I want her to plan whatever she wants."
"Eliza's good," Mac said. "If anyone can put something together fast and keep it looking nice, she's the one. It'll help her out, too. She's had a rough year."
When Lincoln and Carter both stared at Mac, the man shrugged.
"Eliza's boyfriend was also her business partner. He bailed after banging the secretary and then went into business with her, taking more than his share of clients with him through some underhanded deals."
"Nice guy," Carter said, wincing at the news. No one liked being betrayed, and having been through that type of scenario more than once himself, he empathized.
Lincoln's phone bleeped and Carter watched as his brother read the message and smiled.
"What? Amelia sexting you?" Carter asked.
"No, but the girls apparently stayed after the reception to talk wedding details and finished off some champagne. Amelia needs a ride."
"As does my sister," Mac said, shaking his head while staring at his smart watch. "Apparently we're their Ubers."
"Well, I'm due some entertainment," Carter said, standing when they did. "I'll tag along. Piper's babysitter is good for another two hours."
Mac didn't budge and Carter was aware of his friend staring at him. "What?" he asked. "Afraid I'm going to mack on your drunk sister?"
Lincoln groaned and Mac took a step closer, a dark glower on his face. Carter sighed. "Oh, come on. I'm not into Marsali, okay? She's cute but Linc's right. She's too sweet for my tastes. I'm just going along for kicks."
Mac's gaze narrowed, but after a moment, he seemed to accept Carter's words as truth, and the three of them made their way through their respective houses to properly lock up and inform before meeting outside of Mac's to climb into his large SUV.
Getting to the hotel didn't take long, and as they entered the lobby, feminine laughter filled the atrium. Carter spotted the ladies immediately, his gaze zeroing in on the dark-haired beauty sitting with Marsali and Amelia. The woman's bodacious smile drew his attention, and once he was close enough to get a better look, he noted how her deep green eyes sparkled with amusement. Pair those eyes with her sable hair and flushed cheeks, and she was the ultimate southern girl.
"Ah, there's my handsome man now," Amelia said, giggling. "Hi, future husband."
Lincoln bent over the couch where Amelia sat and bussed a kiss over her lips. Carter watched the exchange, a tug of envy tightening his muscles.
For all the talk and bluster and teasing, he envied the love Lincoln had found with Amelia. The high school sweethearts had parted ways back then but, twenty years later, were happier than he'd ever seen them.
His brother had been blessed twice over with quality women, whereas Carter had repeatedly chosen badly and ended up alone and struggling as a single dad.
Truth be told, he wanted what Lincoln had found, but after two tries, that didn't seem to be in the cards for him.
"Ahh, the bachelors," Marsali said, giving them a quizzical look along with a tilt of her curly head. "You know, it reflects poorly on me that my own brother won't let me match him up," she said. "Or you," Marsali said, pointing at Carter and waggling her finger. "You need to hire me. See how well I do?" she said, waving a hand toward the couple now snuggled up in the oversized chair where Amelia sat.
"I'll find my own match," Mac said to his sister. "And stop harassing my friends for clients."
"That's what I said," the brunette agreed with a nod of her finger-mussed hair and lift of her glass.
Mac chuckled. "Eliza, you're looking… happy."
"That's 'cause the check didn't bounce and Bridezilla's daddy was so happy to get her off his hands he gave us that to celebrate," Eliza said, waving a manicured hand toward a huge bottle of Dom sitting on the coffee table across from her. "Oh! And Amelia and I made some progress in planning her two-week wedding."
Cheers went up among the women once more, and they raised their glasses and downed the last of their drinks like sorority girls. The guys watched with varying degrees of amusement and headshaking.
"Ladies, it's been fun but I have had a looong, exhausting day," Eliza said. "Amelia, I'll email you the contract sometime tomorrow evening."
"Thank you again," Amelia said. "I'm so glad you agreed to be our planner."
"Yes, thank you," Lincoln said to Eliza.
"You got it," Eliza said. "Marsali, girl, we need to stop saying we'll get together for that girls' weekend and actually do it."
"Agreed."
"Hold up," Mac said. "Eliza, how are you getting home?"
"Not going," Eliza stated, setting her glass on the table. "Perks of being a wedding planner. I get a room and a write-off when an event ends after a certain time. I just have to get to my room and remember not to skinny-dip in the hot tub on the way," she said, scooting to the edge of the couch cushion.
Skinny-dip? Carter mused. He wouldn't mind seeing that.
Eliza got to her feet and wobbled, and standing closest to her, Carter quickly reached out to steady her.
"Hmm. Hello. Who are you again?"
Amelia introduced them and Carter ignored Mac's glare. His buddy couldn't claim "off-limits" on both his sister and her beautiful friend. That just wasn't cool. "Nice to meet you, Eliza," he said, sliding her arm through his. "How about I walk you to your room?"